


Tom, Traveler of Dimensions

by kiloLeader



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood, Dimension Travel, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7865944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiloLeader/pseuds/kiloLeader
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[This is the dial. Turn it to choose a dimension then press the button on the side to travel there. Each dimension has a code, and all codes will be saved to your device to be uploaded to the databanks when you return.</p><p>It takes one hour to charge, meaning you will have to remain in each dimension you visit for at least one hour. Use this time to gather as much information as possible. Do not be surprised to meet other versions of yourself or the people you know. They will assist your research.</p><p>Your safety is not guaranteed. In case of an emergency, press this button. It will return you to this dimension, but may cause some damage to you or your device. Avoid this if possible.</p><p>Please begin your travels.]</p><p>Tom's new job as a dimension traveler is more unusual than he expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blue Leader

I recently took up a job of moving from dimension to dimension. I don't know if that means hopping, sliding, taking the bus, or any other means of traveling, but I get the basics. I use the device given to me, a bulky watch-looking bracelet, and it takes me from one dimension to another. Sounds cool, right? The concept alone made me overlook the measly pay and shady company. As for the job itself... it was nothing less than an adventure.

The thing seemed like a sham at first. I appeared in a dark office where I could only see the silhouette of a desk and some chairs, as well as a figure standing in front of said desk. I had no clue who it was, but I could tell they were wearing some sort of overcoat. Once I turned on the lights I was less than thrilled to see that the mystery person was Tord wearing an army uniform and holding a stack of papers. As soon as he saw me his face went bright red and he ran to me and bowed, dropping his papers all over the ground.

"I-I'm so sorry, sir! I know I'm not allowed to enter your office without your permission, b-b-but these papers are too urgent. P-please don't hurt me..."

That was when all of my doubts disappeared. The man in front of me could be a number of people, but there was no way in his world that it was Tord. He was shaking like a vibrator and his voice was very unstable. The thing that bothered me the most was how he called me "sir", and referred to this office as mine. Finding out who I was in this dimension was my top priority, but first I needed Tord to help me. I reached an arm out to comfort him, but he flinched before I even touched him.

"Calm down, Tord. I'm not going to hurt you."

Tord lifted his head to look at me and his behavior suddenly made a lot more sense. There were bruises all over his face and neck, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was hiding some underneath his uniform. I led him to sit down in one and the chairs and I sat in the other. Then we spent the next few minutes in silence, catching glimpses at each other when we thought the other wasn't looking. When he spoke he was a lot softer than before, and didn't make eye contact.

"You're... not my boss."

"Your /boss/?" Why was I so surprised? It was the most logical answer. Still... "You let your boss treat you like this?!" I leaned towards him and caught his eye for just a moment before he looked away, his face red.

"N-no, it's okay. I just mess up a lot, so he corrects me for it."

As we were talking somebody else came in and before we knew it a menacing figure was standing behind us. Judging by Tord's pale face and the way he gulped he knew exactly who it was, and I deduced the most likely person it could be, but it was no less of a shock when I looked up and met face-to-face with Tord's boss... myself. I thought encountering Tord for the first time was odd, but this was completely disorienting. If I had more time to think I would possibly have been able to take it in, but less than a second later I was slapped across the face, the sting sending me back to earth. Tord let out a little yelp; when I looked over he had a bright handprint on his cheek on top of an already nasty bruise.

"What are you doing here?" demanded this other Tom. His cold, threatening voice sent chills down my spine, but a large part of it was because it was my own voice. I opened my mouth to answer, but Tord's timid voice beat me to it.

"I-I-I was just delivering some p-papers."

"You mean the ones on the ground?" The other Tom gestured to the pile of papers scattered where I arrived. Tord nodded, and was accordingly hit on the back of the head. "Pick these up." Tord scurried to the ground and gathered all the papers. While he was doing that, the other Tom turned to me. "And what's your excuse?"

"My excuse?" _That's_ the first thing he asked me? Not, per say, why we looked identical?

"H-he just appeared here, sir," Tord said as he set the organized papers down on the other Tom's desk.

"Yeah!" I stood up and put my hands on my hips, shoving my face in his. "I'd never want to break into the office of an asshole like you."

The other Tom poked my eyes so I would retreat, but his fingers went straight through the sockets. I suppressed a laugh; he of all people should have seen that coming. He let out a small grunt and stepped back instead.

"Tord, go guard the door. Make sure to shut it." The other Tom didn't break eye contact with me as he gave the order.

"Y-yes sir!" Tord set the papers on the desk then bolted out of the room. I didn't blame him; I would have done the same thing if I were in his situation. That left just the two of us, staring intensely at each other. After a minute, he turned to the side and started laughing.

"How pathetic you are. You couldn't even convince Tord that you were me, and he's gullible as hell."

I rapidly blinked, confused at first, then crossed my arms when I realized what he was saying. "Who exactly do you think I am?"

"An impostor, naturally." The other Tom waved his hand, and I could feel my shoulders slowly slouching. Unbelievable.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Of course not. There are many people who would love a position like mine."

I sighed. I'm an asshole and an idiot. "Have you even looked at yourself? Not just anyone has eyes missing. Don't you find it a bit /too/ convenient, or even impossible, that someone like me, identical to you, comes in? And don't give me any twin bullshit; we're physically the same. You can't brush me off as an impostor and you know it."

He turned his head away from me, chin up in a snobby fashion, but I could clearly see that he was defeated. After a minute, he spoke to me with the same arrogant voice, but there was also a hint of impatience. "Then explain yourself. If you're not an impostor then who are you?"

I grinned and revealed the traveling device on my wrist. Time to put this guy in his place. "I'm you, obviously. But instead of some stuck-up bigshot or whatever the hell you are I travel dimensions."

"Dimensions, huh?" He smirked at me. "Then tell me, what is your "dimension" like?"

"Like I said, I just took up a job traveling dimensions. I live an average life with my friends Edd and Matt. As for Tord, the last time I saw him he was nothing like how he is now. As much as I hate to admit it, he was probably the toughest out of all of us."

The other Tom snorted. I wanted to smack the grin off his face. "I know all about Tord. Yeah, he used to be a real tough guy until he started working for me. That was months ago."

"You did that--?!" I balled my hands into fists.

"Of course I did it. Like you said, he was a tough guy. He had a hard time following instructions. A little discipline does a lot."

"Discipline?! That is textbook abuse!" I swung my arm, intending to knock some sense into him, but he caught it before I could hit him.

"Come on, Tom. This entire time you've been trying to prove to me why you're better, but isn't violence resorting to my level?"

He dropped my arm, and I seethed anger. For once he was right. "That still doesn't justify it! He's pitiful! Surely you can see how much pain he's in!"

"Yeah, but he listens. Tord!" The second my alter ego called for him Tord came into the room and shuffled his way to the side of his leader.

"Yes sir?"

"I think our friend has some questions for you."

Tord looked down, blushing. "For me? Really? You never tell me to answer anything."

"Yes, some personal questions." The other Tom wrapped his arm around Tord, who flinched on contact. "Just answer honestly."

I knew that I would get anything but honesty while the two were together. Even now Tord's face was a stock image of hesitancy. It was worth a shot. And if anything happened to him, I was able to interject. "So Tord, what's it like working for him?"

Tord pulled on his collar, purposely avoiding eye contact with either one of us. "W-well, it's... it's certainly a job. I've made some friends, uh, if I can call them friends, and... well, I've learned a lot. All thanks to you, sir..."

"Do you like your job?" I wondered if I should push him anymore. It was almost painful watching him answer with his boss breathing over his shoulder, but one more question couldn't hurt.

"U-um, well, I..." Tord took a quick peek at his boss before answering, and tensed at his awaiting expression. "I'm very grateful for it... I mean, it's a good job, we're very, uh, personal, and lots of people say it's a good job, but... th-the job is good. That's all."

I checked the charge on my battery. It was only halfway full. I didn't think I could handle any more of this, but I had to keep going. "Hey asshole." I gained the attention of both of them, The other Tom narrowing his expression and Tord gasping. "I want to talk to Tord alone."

Tord bit his lip and turned to his boss, who smiled another one of his selfish grins. "If you think you can get anymore informaton out of him then go ahead." He let go of Tord and pushed him over to me a bit too roughly. He stumbled and I caught him right before he hit the ground. "Go on, you two. Out of my office."

Tord grabbed my hand with unexpected strength and led me out of the room to the end of a long hallway. We both sat down on a bench against the wall and kept quiet for a while until I decided to initiate a conversation.

"I know I look just like to your boss, have the same name, and am pretty much identical, but our personalities are nothing alike. I think we can both agree he's an asshole." Tord didn't respond to what I said. He just stared at the ground, body stiff. Still, I pressed on. "You can't let him abuse you like this."

"It's not abuse!" He stared at me for a few seconds, showing an aggression I had yet to see, then went right back to his earlier position, tugging on his sleeve as he spoke. "It's discipline. Sometimes I have problems obeying orders. It's not on purpose, I just slip up..."

"You know it's not healthy. No one should have that many bruises unless they were in an accident." I put my hand on his knee and gently moved his head to make eye contact with me. "You need to tell someone."

He pulled away from me and scooted to the other side of the bench. "You don't understand. My boss is at the very top of everything. If anyone confronts him they'll be punished. I can't let anyone know."

"What about your friends?"

"My friends... they don't ask. They know better."

I never thought I would empathize with Tord. Then again, I could hardly call this man Tord. Maybe at some point him and the Tord I knew were the same, but the person next to me was whittled down to someone so pathetic he wouldn't even admit that there was a problem.

"We're done talking." Tord stood up and turned his back to me. "It was nice meeting you, but I can't say anything else."

I stood up as well, ready to lecture him on what he should be doing, but I knew that nothing was going to get through to him. It was hopeless. I checked the device on my wrist and saw that it was fully charged. About damn time. "Hey Tord?"

Tord turned to face me, his face no longer showing the tension from our conversation. "What is it?"

"Tell your boss that he can suck my interdimensional dick." I snickered at his shocked response as I turned the dial and pressed the button to send me away to who-knows-where. Hopefully it wouldn't be as painful there.


	2. Apocalypse

The first thing that stood out to me was the cramped space I was in. It was pitch black -- will there be a dimension where I appear somewhere visible? -- but the ceiling was too low for me to stand and all the dust made me sneeze. Other than that I had room to move around in, but not much. I didn't even have to move to feel all of the walls. It was like I was trapped in a box fit for a human, albeit someone a little shorter. There had to be a way out, or else I was wasting time and breath in what I would call the trapped-in-a-box-dimension. Zero out of ten, would not recommend. But after a second search I felt a handle in the top right corner which, sure enough, opened a compartment I could crawl out of. Now I could begin my proper investigation.

It was a large concrete room, maybe some sort of warehouse, and boxes full of scrap metal were lying all over. The other side of the room had a couple of tables covered in tools and wires, but only one chair, which was occupied by a man. Oh great -- it was Tord again. He was tinkering with a small, handheld robot and saying something that I couldn't make out from my distance. His hair was a tangled wreck and his clothes were in even worse condition, with holes in multiple places, scorch marks, and many, many stains. The second he saw me I witnessed the biggest jaw drop of my life. I had no idea a jaw could go that low, much less why my arrival triggered such a reaction. While I was still in awe over the amazing sight he came all the way over to me and started talking my ear off in what I assumed was Norwegian, using very animated expressions and large hand motions. Halfway through he switched to English so I could understand what the hell he was going on about.

"--It's absolutely impossible, I check everyday for life, and I never actually expected to see anyone, this is great!" He gave me this big, enthusiastic hug, lifting me off of the ground while I stared at him awkwardly. Once again I was questioning if this was actually Tord. He beamed at me as he set me down and let go. "A human! A healthy human! Ha!"

"What the hell?" I took a large step away from the weirdo. "You're acting like you've never seen a human before."

"It's... been a while." His expression dimmed for a moment, then came back brighter than ever. "Where did you come from? I check for signals of life every three hours and I haven't had anything for the last year!"

I raised an eyebrow, trying to put the pieces together. "I was in that little compartment right there. I'm from another dimension; I came here by random just a few minutes ago." I revealed the device on my arm as proof.

"Dimensions, huh? Lucky you. You've got so many people." Tord sighed and his smile disappeared.

"Um, yeah." I put my hands in my pockets and took another look around the warehouse. It was awfully big for one person. "So where is everyone?"

He looked away from me for a moment, then grabbed my arm and led me over to the table he was sitting at, showing me a forced smile. "How about I show you what I was working on? He--"

I slapped his arm off my hand before he could get any further. "I want to know where everyone is and why you were so thrilled to see me."

He bit his lip, looked to the side, and spoke again, softer and quieter than his bombastic attitude just a minute before. "Sit down. This story isn't easy."

I sat down in his seat and leaned forward, giving Tord my maximum attention. His gloomy expression amplified the terrible condition he was in -- pale skin, dark circles around his eyes, and incredibly skinny. He was probably malnourished, and he didn't seem the type to sleep a lot. Hopefully his story would give me the answers.

"If you couldn't tell, I love to build and invent things. Not just robots, other things. But one time I went too far. I built this new type of bomb, which seemed like a genius idea at the time. It targeted organic life, no radiation involved. I was going to use it to hold the rest of the world hostage while I took over, but when I tested it..." Tord moved his robot aside and sat on the table, hanging his head between his knees. His voice shook as he continued. "All I did was drop it in the ocean. Other nations used to do that all the time to test their nuclear weapons. But it was strong. Far stronger than I thought..." I couldn't see his face, but I saw something small drop to the ground followed by more. Tears. He was /actually/ crying. He buried his face in his hands and told me the rest in a choked, muffled voice. "I killed them. Everyone. Everything. Gone because of a stupid plan."

I stood up, but gawked instead of doing anything. I knew Tord was evil, but I never thought he would go so far. Compared to him all Hitler did was squish a bug. I wanted to yell at him for doing it. I also wanted to tell him off for it. After all, he committed the biggest monstrosity conceivable. But seeing how excited he was to encounter me, how heartbroken he looked when I brought up the topic, and the breakdown he was currently experiencing, he already knew what I was going to say. He obviously regretted his actions and was living his punishment of eternal loneliness, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Curse my empathetic side.

After a minute he stood up and smiled at me, his lip still quivering. "I'm such an awful person... I wanted to take over the world. Be careful what you wish for, huh?" He tried to laugh, but it turned into more sobbing. Next thing I knew I was in another of his tight hugs, and hesitantly I hugged back. In his current state it was difficult to imagine him causing this much destruction on purpose.

"Hey, Tord..." I let go of him, and after a moment he did the same and looked at me. "How about you show me what you were working on?"

Tord perked up immediately and grabbed his robot with one hand while wiping tears from his face with the other. "This is my little buddy." He stood up and placed the robot in the spot he was sitting. "He's still a work in progress, but he's designed to help me while I'm working. Watch this."

Tord pointed to a screwdriver on the other end of the table and gave a command in Norwegian. The robot glided over, picked up the screwdriver, and brought it back. "He's still a work in progress. I'm going to add some speech responses. You know, make him seem a bit more human."

I had to admit that this simple robot intrigued me. Maybe it was just that his mood did a complete turnaround once he began showing me, but it had me smile as well. "Hey, can I talk to him?"

Tord shook his head and took the screwdriver from the robot. "He only understands Norwegian. I haven't spoken English in about two years. That was when the last human died."

"Whoa, hang on." I held my hands up. "I thought everyone else died on impact."

Tord shook his head again, shoulders drooping. "A few others survived, but they were all very ill. The only reason I came out in decent shape is because I was hiding in the little compartment you came out of. There used to be a panel in there telling me when it was safe, but I scrapped it."

I vaguely recalled one side of the box having a large dip in it, but I didn't find it important at the time and thus brushed the thought aside. It irritated me that Tord hid despite thinking his action would be harmless. Perhaps he was lying. Perhaps he was still being the two-faced person I knew in my dimension. Yet his expressions seemed genuine, and surely a person could change in two years of solitude.

"How have you survived for this long, anyway?" I raised an eyebrow, mostly out of curiosity but with a bit of suspicion. His story had a fair amount of holes. "If everyone else is gone then you shouldn't have the power to make the robots or even get food."

Tord grinned, his eyes glimmering with pride. "I did it all myself!"

"Yourself?" My other eyebrow raised to meet the first. "How?"

"I'll show you!" Tord grabbed my arm and led me to a door large enough for a truck to safely drive through. On the other side of that was the would that he created. It must have been a hellhole, the air difficult to breathe and the water too poisoned to drink. But then the door opened and all of my predictions were thrown away. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but it wasn't good either. There were no signs of nature in sight; the ground was made of dry, nutrition-less soil, with no sign of grass or roots ever being there. That spread out as far as I could see, interrupted only by big, concrete buildings on the horizon, wires and pipes running all the way from there to the warehouse we just exited. A couple yards away a bunch of metal shacks were arranged like houses in a neighborhood with wires connecting all of them. Big, barrel-like robots were carrying things all around. When one passed another they both lit up and beeped like they were greeting each other. It was like a small population. I looked over to Tord and he was watching me, grinning, awaiting a response.

"That's... amazing." I wasn't sure if I was in awe over the destruction or the creation. Both of them were very extreme, like an entirely different world. "I still don't understand how you're living. There's no life, plants nor animals."

"Like I said, I did it myself. See that factory?" He pointed to one of the large buildings in the distance. "I have a whole setup to create food! It's not very healthy, but I'm alive. And the building to the left is the electricity to keep my robots alive."

"You sure care about your robots, huh?"

"Yeah. One day I'm going to make one that's sentient. Then I'll repopulate the world..." Tord had that tone of hopelessness in his voice again. In the back of his mind he knew that it would never work. He knew that his robots, no matter how intelligent, would never fill the void of actual human interaction. I would have brought it up, but my device beeped, telling me it was fully charged.

"Hey, I have to go."

He had a childlike response, giving me big, puppy dog eyes and a pout. "But I haven't shown you around yet! I was going to show you how all of my facilities work and introduce you to all my friends."

"Tord, this is my job. I get paid per dimension. I can't spend much time lingering."

Tord sighed and looked away from me, his shoulders as close to the ground as they could without him bending his back. "I understand. Well, it was nice to see you. I had a great time talking to an intelligent species."

I turned the dial on my device, but before I could leave he said one more thing.

"Could you or one of your friends maybe come visit some time?"

"I'll try my best." With a small pity smile I disappeared into the next dimension.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the positive feedback! It really makes my day.


	3. Prison

I didn't even have a chance to get my bearings before I was tackled. My head made a large thump on the concrete on impact, then a second, then a third. My assaulter was banging my head against the ground. I tried to cry for help, but my throat was too constricted to make any noise. Oh my god, I was going to die. I was either going to suffer head trauma or die by asphyxiation. After a couple seconds, however, the person attacking me stopped and backed off. As soon as I came back to my senses I looked over to the nearest light source, a bright light coming from a sliver in the doorway, most of it blocked off by the person in front of it. My hearing hadn't yet restored all the way but there were at least two people yelling unintelligible words. After some struggle the person on my side of the door stumbled back and the door closed, leaving a dull light from above as the only way of seeing. Once my senses fully recovered and I saw that the other person in the room had calmed down I slowly stood up, slightly afraid of being beaten again. I made my way over to the other man, who leaned against the blank concrete wall, both of us breathing heavily. Just as I suspected, the person who attacked me was Tord, this time wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. He gave me a venomous look, his eyes shooting daggers.

"What was all that for? You almost killed me!" Yelling hurt my injured head, but I did so anyway.

"It was a death wish coming here." Tord's voice was quieter than I expected, but contained the same hostility. "I told you that much the last time we saw each other."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me. You're the one who did this." He squinted at me and took a step in my direction. His movements were a bit wobbly, but he kept the upper half of his body stiff, including his balled hands. "I'll never forgive you. As soon as this sedative wears off you're dead."

I took a step back and raised my arms halfway, but it was a bit relieving knowing he was sedated and unable to throw a good punch. "You've got the wrong Tom. I'm from another dimension. I don't even know what's going on."

He took another step forward, snickering. "You won't fool me, Tom. You know exactly what happened. You turned me in. And now that you're here I can get revenge on you."

"Hey, take a moment to think this through." I held my hands out in front of me in order to caution him. "If I knew you wanted to kill me then why would I come? And how would I appear in here out of nowhere?"

After a moment Tord stepped back and looked to the side. "Yeah, I thought that was weird..." He looked back at me. "But that's impossible. Other dimensions don't exist."

"Yes they do. I've been to multiple. It's my job. So, if you could just tell me where we are things would go smoothly and we won't have to fight again."

Tord moved to the center of the room, although it was more of a concrete block. Save the door, it was completely empty. He lazily put his hands in the air, presenting the room, then back to his sides. "Welcome to prison. More specifically, solitary confinement. If you came looking for something interesting then you're not going to find it." He drew out a long sigh. "Six months, they said. I would only have to stay in here for six months and then they would let me back into my old cell with everyone else. It's been well over six months..."

I subtly nodded as he spoke. Things actually made sense this time around. "So what put you in prison?"

"Have you not been listening? You did! Your filthy snitching ass turned me in the moment you caught me in the act!"

"Like I said earlier, that wasn't me. I'm not from here." I tried to keep a level head, but the topic had him all heated up. The look he gave me was unsettling to say the least, and it kept getting more intense. "If you could just explain."

"There's no way I'm telling you my crimes if you don't already know! I'm not stupid! Now stop asking!"

"Calm down and stop yelling!" His hot attitude was getting me worked up as well, and the moment I let my guard down I was punched with a strong left hook. That was the quickest I had ever seen a sedative wear off. I was punched again in multiple areas until I fell to my knees. My stomach churned, expecting more beatings, but they never came. I flopped to the ground and could vaguely see Tord walking to the door which just opened. There was more yelling, but I was in too much pain to care. I lifted my head when I felt someone grab my wrists from behind, followed by a jangling noise and something cold around my wrists. A prison warden pulled me onto my feet. I was wearing handcuffs. I wanted to say I was surprised, but I had seen too many strange events in the past couple of hours that it no longer fazed me. I just sighed and looked to the stern warden.

"Escaping from your cell, eh? I thought you were smarter than that."

My body tensed, the cuffs on my hands digging into my skin. I notice Tord do the same thing despite his already tight body, his eyes widening as well. We spoke in unison. "Escape...?"

Despite the warden being at least half a foot taller than him, Tord grabbed the warden's shirt collar and punched him under the jaw. "Why did you never tell me you had him locked up?! _How long has he been here?_!" He tried to attack the warden again, but the warden was quicker, and shot him with a stronger sedative. Once Tord fell to the ground the warden grabbed onto my cuffs and led me out.

The prison itself was pretty well-maintained. It had the same atmosphere as those fictional prisons they showed on television, complete with small cells behind iron bars. Maybe this was fiction; with the way my day was going I wouldn't be surprised. At least it was clean and quiet. The cell he brought me to looked empty, so when the door locked on me I sat on the slab closest to me, only for the lump below me to start screaming.

It was my scream.

I was sitting on myself.

He threw me onto the ground and we stared at each other for what seemed like a long time. I bit my lip to avoid yelling as well. There was this odd feeling I got whenever seeing myself, like some sort of dark pit in my stomach. It just wasn't natural. After our long period of (lack of) eye contact, he pulled me up by my hoodie strings to sit next to him on what I presumed to be his bed.

"Who are you?" He eyed me suspiciously, but with a look I couldn't quite place. Was he looking at something else?

"I'm you. I'm Tom." He obviously didn't believe me, and if I were in his place, I wouldn't have either.

"Who sent you?" The way he narrowed his eyes, or rather, how his entire expression changed to focus on me, sent chills down my spine.

"I came here as part of my job. It--"

"Is it Tord? Is he behind this?" The other Tom clasped his arm on my knee, leaning towards me.

"It's not Tord! He's in solitary, how could he?"

"Don't underestimate him. He got me in here." The other Tom puffed and leaned against the wall. I looked at him with a tilted head.

"Weird. I was talking to him earlier and he said the opposite."

"It's a sort of roundabout." He put his hands over his face, covering his eyes and cheeks, and sighed again. "He's a filthy criminal. Always involved in theft and murder. Not just him, but a whole bunch of other guys. About a year ago I caught them during a heist and he was arrested. Six months ago one of his goons framed me for a murder as revenge. You said you talked to him in solitary?"

"If by talk you mean nearly face death, then yeah, we had a pretty thorough conversation." I looked to the ground, trying not to recall the pain. "I don't think he knows you're in here."

"Well, I haven't seen him since he was arrested. Judging by those bruises of yours, I probably don't want to." He snorted and rubbed his eye sockets. "Although I'd get to him first. The bastard isn't getting away with framing me."

Wow. The hatred between the two was actually _deeper_ than the one between me and the Tord I know. After that, we didn't have much to talk about, leaving me to ponder. I could no longer feel my hands; the cuffs had most likely cut off all circulation. "Hey, uh, do you think you could take these off?"

The other Tom laughed. "You're in prison. Jail. There's no way you're getting out of those."

"But I'm innocent!"

"Yeah. So am I." He smirked. I had a feeling that his time in this establishment made that statement false. "Just go with it."

I groaned. "At least look at the thing on my wrist. Is it fully charged?"

He tugged on my wrist, jerking it in an uncomfortable position. "What is this thing?"

"That's what I use for my job--"

"Tord gave you this?"

"I already told you I'm not working for Tord!"

His only response was moving my arm more until I was pinned down with my stomach on my knees and my arms on top of my back. In that position is was difficult to breathe, but struggling was useless. "Yep, definitely something Tord would make. Are you sure you aren't working for one of his lackeys?"

I was quick to respond no, but in actuality I had no idea _who_ I was working for. It was all very shady, but the job was too cool to pass up. Not even three hours in and I was already regretting it. But it couldn't have been Tord. The last time I saw Tord he was falling from a crashing robot. There was no way he could have survived. And yet...

No, I would never work under him, knowingly or not.

"So, you want me to take this off of you?" The other Tom pulled my arms up, his grip tight around my device, and I groaned at the additional pain.

"No, that's my only way out of here and back to home. Is that bar at the top full?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

I sighed. Freedom. "Turn the knob on the right then press the button right below it."

"Why? Are you going to run back to Tord?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't work for Tord?!"

He growled a bit. "Fine, as long as this doesn't affect me." Right after that, he did as he was told, and zapped me out of that horrible place.

My last thought before leaving was about my employer. Could it really be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was incredibly difficult to write due to lack of ideas, focus, and inspiration. I made up a large portion of it on the fly, honestly. It didn't have as much angst as the other chapters but it paves the way for more to come. Thank you for all of your feedback, it's what kept me going!


	4. Unexpected

It was oddly calming this time around despite the amount of pain I was in. I closed my eyes for the moment, using my other senses to take my surroundings in. I was sitting on the ground, the cuffs still digging into my skin, back against the wall. Despite that, it was the most comfortable position I had been in since I started the job. The soft carpet below me was thick enough to pass for a mattress, and the near silence was mesmerizing. Maybe my boss would allow a break. Whoever that was...

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes until I felt someone caress my jaw. I opened my eyes and quietly gasped. It was Tord, sitting across from me on his knees with a first aid kit by his side. By now I was used to seeing him, and while I didn't like it, I was able to tell if he were different than my native Tord within seconds. This time it was all in his eyes. They were soft and wide. The concern on his face looked genuine, but not in the selfish, mean-spirited way I was acquainted with. It was as if he actually cared about me.

"Oh, Tom, you're up." Tord smiled, but he still looked incredibly worried. "I'm sorry for treating you without asking, but I didn't want to wake you." He dipped a cotton ball in some rubbing alcohol and rubbed it around my wrist. The cuffs were off my wrists and nowhere to be seen, but the cuts and slashes left painful memories. I winced at the burning sensation, and vaguely heard him whisper something. Wait... no, I was imagining things.

"What did you just say?" I pulled my hand back, looking suspiciously at the man.

The comment must have caught him completely off guard because he dropped the cotton ball right where my wrist was a moment ago. "I just said sorry." Throughout this day I had seen many versions of Tord displaying a variety of emotions, but I would never expect this from any of them: pure innocence. From all that I gathered I figured that they were all guilty at some point. But him? I wasn't sure.

"Tom, are you feeling okay? You look like you hit your head pretty hard. You might have a concussion."

Maybe I did have a concussion. Maybe I was imagining things. No, that's not it. If that was the case then I would have started to hallucinate a long time ago. "I-I'm fine. You don't have to take care of me."

He stared at me with an blank, perhaps confused stare for a few moments, then nodded and put all of his tools back into the first aid kit and closed it. "I'll be right back. Go find somewhere more comfortable to sit." He exited the room and I was left alone once again. I stood up, my head pounding as I did so, and took my first look around. It was a living room, and a cozy one at that. One large couch against the wall, a smaller couch to the left, and a recliner on the right, all three of them matching. I sat in the center of the large couch, relaxing even more so than before. My body felt like it was melting into the soft, plush seat -- this was even better than where I lived. On the other side of the room was a staircase going down, meaning this was either the second floor or the basement, and a decent-sized television. Other than this and the small tables next to this couch and the other it was pretty bare. There were no picture frames, memorabilia, or anything else that would give me an insight into his personality.

After a few minutes Tord came up the stairs holding a glass of water in one hand and an ice pack in the other. He sat down next to me and handed me the glass of water as he put the ice pack on the the area where I hit my head. "If there's anything else you need just tell me."

I groaned and slapped his hand away. The table was too far away for me to reach so I just set the glass on the ground and turned to look at the other man. "Like I told you before, I don't need you taking care of me." My voice had an irritated edge to it, but he kept a neutral face as I spoke. "I'm really not that bad. Maybe your version of Tom would accept this, but I'm not--"

"--My Tom." He completed my sentence with a calm tone. "Yes, I could tell straight away. Tom was my best friend, he--"

"Your best friend? _Seriously_?" There were no limits on how strange these places were, but this one made me queasy.

"Yes, we were friends for as long as I can remember. Like I was saying, he would always call before coming over. And if he were in an emergency situation like this then he would have eagerly accepted my assistance. I thought he would at least, but... but he isn't here. The fact that you're here talking to me is proof that you're different."

The moment he mentioned being best friends with the other Tom I zoned out, and once he finished rambling I entered a laughing fit because of it, startling him. "So you and other me... friends? Best friends? Or..." I tried to contain my laughter, but that just led to more. "...Something more?"

As soon as my laughter died down he started laughing on his own, but softer and quieter. I was expecting some blushing or embarrassment, so I frowned out of disappointment. He shook his head and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Don't be so insensitive towards the dead."

My mood lashed from amused to shocked in less than a second. "Dead?"

"You mean you don't know? Tom killed himself three months ago." Tord kept his poker face, but he was grasping the couch behind him, his knuckles turning white. "So please don't talk about our relationship like that."

"I-- he-- commited suicide? Why?"

"I-I don't know. I arrived not long after he did it; the blood was still fresh. It was horrifying. I've read over the suicide note hundreds of times and I still can't figure it out."

Oh boy, here it comes. His eyes glazed over and he looked away. He moved his hand from my shoulder and grasped onto mine. He was going to break down just as the others had. "Tord Therapist" might as well be my job title. From what I could tell he was a soft guy. I bet he was the type to cry at sad movies. I stared at him for a good thirty seconds but he remained hunched down and looking at the floor. His face was emotionless. Was that shock? Yeah, shock. Three months isn't a very long time to mourn. I was about to give him a comforting pat on the back until he sat back up and smiled at me.

"Sorry about that. You brought up some memories, but I'm okay."

"You sure? You're not going to cry or anything?"

Tord shook his head. "The past is the past. I miss him, I really do, but there's no point in lingering." He hugged me for just a moment then pulled back. "It's nice to meet you. I know you're not him -- no one will ever be him -- but your company is nice."

I studied him for a moment with his gentle smile, eyes that held much emotion yet remained tame, and his hands in his lap, completely calm. I had said this many times already, but I could not believe what I was seeing. A version of Tord with stable emotions. Looks aside, he was radically different from everyone else. He wasn't complaining. That's when I decided that he was my favorite. I checked my device, and despite being asleep for a little while there was still time left to charge. Surely he wouldn't object to me poking at the subject a bit more.

"So, you and the other version of me... I know I laughed about your friendship and all, but just how close _were_ you two?"

Tord straightened his posture. "He was the closest person to me. Once I got my own place I didn't talk to the others as much, but we still talked every day and visited each other at least once a week."

"Did you two go out?"

"Yeah!" He covered his mouth once I wiggled my eyebrows. "N-not like that! We were just friends!" His voice wavered. Close friends, seeing each other every week... I was either thinking too much into it or he was lying. I wanted the truth but at the same time I wasn't ready for it.

"I don't know, honestly." Tord sighed and put his hands in his pockets. "Maybe he thought differently." He slipped a small piece of paper to me, which I looked down to read.

_I'm so sorry_   
_I love you_

I looked over to Tord, who was now twiddling his thumbs. "That's his suicide note. I always keep it on me."

After a moment I slid the note back into his pocket and slung my arm around his shoulder.

"Let's apply some logic to this. You don't act like the Tord I know. Do I act like your Tom?" Tord shook his head, so I continued. "I hate Tord with a burning passion. What does that mean?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "Does that mean your Tord is dead?"

Damn him. I wasn't going to push it; we both knew the answer. "Unless someone can survive a fall from several feet during an explosion then I don't think he's alive."

Before Tord could respond, the device on my wrist suddenly tightened uncomfortably around my wrist, flashing red and emitting an ear-piercing series of beeps.

"Wh-what's going on?" Tord yelled over the droning sound.

I cringed, the device getting even tighter around my wrist. My hand was turning purple due to lack of blood flow. Not knowing what else to do, I slammed the button to travel, but nothing happened. Tord frantically looked for a way to help, but there was nothing he could do. I had no other option:

The emergency button.


	5. Source

**[Emergency detected. Now sending you to the nearest station for repairs...**

**Please note that we are not responsible for any sort of danger or damage that you or your device may have encountered during your travels.]**

I didn't receive the message until after I arrived, but I couldn't help but feel that that one comment explained a lot about whatever sort of organization this was. It obviously wasn't too keen on the state of their employees, and might even be a warning. If I had heard that in advance I wouldn't have taken the advice. Yet there I was, beaten with my only healing from an amateur, sitting in a cheap chair with one of my wrists tied to the armrest with rope and the other -- the one with the device -- in the hands of someone else. Surprise, surprise, the person tinkering with the object on my wrist was the Norwegian himself, Tord. To be honest, I wasn't expecting him to be there in my time of emergency, but who else would it be?

"I should have known. W--" I interrupted myself with a low groan as the device was removed from my arm, leaving a bright red mark where it was previously.

"Hold that thought, I'll get back to you in a moment." Tord hooked the device up to a nearby computer and read through the information for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I untied my other wrist and stretched. I wanted nothing more than to be free and go home. I considered escaping right then and there, but he returned before I had the chance.

"My, my, isn't this a coincidence? We've been paired up." Tord smiled at me, the very fake smile that he would always give Edd and Matt. It was the fake smile that made me want to chop him to bits. If I didn't have so many questions I would have tried.

"You have questions." He didn't even look at me as he said that. He was looking at his computer again. "I guess that's part of my job. Ask away."

I walked over beside him, looking between him and the screen, which showed some sort of code I couldn't understand. After a moment, he stopped and leaned against the desk to face me. "Well?"

He was right; I had questions. _Many_ questions. It was a matter of what to ask first. "So, I'm assuming your the one in charge?"

"Oh, sure. I'm the one in charge. If you think the technician is the one in charge." Judging by his grimace and the rotten tone in his voice I struck a nerve. "If I were in charge I wouldn't be here fixing the problems of novices who skipped initiation and dove right into their job with no clue of what they're doing!"

I took a small step back; I already saw Tord angry once today, and I was ready to defend myself if things got out of hand again. "What's your job, then?"

"Didn't I already say it? I'm the technician! I build these things!" He turned back to the computer and banged his fist on the table. "I could be the one in charge. I mean, look at the Tord from your native dimension. He has an entire army. He's going places. I'm here doing... tech support!"

"I hate to break it to you, but the Tord in my dimension is dead." I wasn't sure if I said something wrong or if he was just hysterical, but he laughed.

"I can't tell you much about how we run things, but what I can tell you is that we pride ourselves on our accuracy when it comes to pairing people up based off of how well they know each other. But you don't even know his current state!" He walked up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "He's not dead, Tom. He's wounded but he's very much alive."

I shrugged his hand off. "Your pairings are obviously wrong. We barely speak at all anymore. I'd think to get 'paired up' with someone I actually like, like Edd or Matt."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I viewed your observations from today using that device you were issued. You made a lot of comparisons between who you already know and who you met. That's exactly what we need -- keen observations. Our organization thrives off of comparisons! The multiverse is one huge puzzle book and we're playing spot the difference."

"You're pretty involved in all of this, aren't you?" My lips tugged at the ends. Somewhere in me I was ticked because he just admitted that everyone who worked in this organization was some sort of pawn in this greater goal, but that was the case for every job, wasn't it? He spoke as if he weren't being played like those below him, and yet he was peeved that he wasn't at the top. If there was one thing I knew about Tord it was that he didn't like being controlled.

There I go again analyzing him. The guy was right; I knew about him more than I cared to admit. I was being analyzed as well; every time he looked at me his eyes were subtly moving up and down, trying to conceal the fact that he was actually doing it. This all led me to one conclusion: he knew more than he would if he were just a lowly technician.

"Oh no, just stating our consensus. You would have known if you had gone to the initiation."

"Why are you so angry about your job?"

"Because I'm stuck answering such trivial questions like these everyday! I deserve better!"

"Then why not quit?" He had no response. "Look, Tord, I know you. You know I know you. You get passionate about things and can go on and on about them... like you just did. Don't conceal anything. Tell me everything about this organization."

Tord crossed his arms and smirked. "I truly am your match. Those are the kinds of skills I like to see. I don't understand why we're so secretive in the first place about it all. As employees you have a right to know things, don't you? Sit down."

I sat down in the cheap metal chair while he swiveled his computer chair over to me so we could talk face-to-face.

"It's not even an organization, really. Just a collaborative research project. As I hope you know, there's an infinite amount of dimensions for each different possibility to occur, even something so small as, say, us sitting in opposite seats. Out of all of those, three dimensions discovered how to travel at the same moment and we all met in this dimension here. So the three of us--"

"Who are these other people?"

"Shut up, I'm not finished. We teamed up and started recruiting people to go explore. Being the only one to create something that was actually able to work from one dimension to the next, I designed and built every device that we used while they went out and explored." He crossed his arms and huffed. I was about to chime in, but he continued before he could do so. "Yet they considered me their equal up until he died."

"Who died?" I leaned forward. I told him to tell me everything. I shouldn't have expected him to listen to me.

"As soon as we found out, she went all authoritative on me and rebuilt our project into something safer and branched out to other dimensions. She took over this whole thing and left me behind to do all the hard work." Tord took a deep breath and slowly let it out. I could practically see steam being released. "Now then. You have a good grasp on my character. What would I do in my current situation?"

I sat back in my seat and reviewed everything that he told me. It was him and two others, a male and a female, who founded a research project. The male died and things changed in a way unfavorable to him. It would have really helped if he told me who these people were; for all I knew he was hiding more. I stayed quiet for a long enough time for him to add any details, and when he kept quiet I gave my answer.

"Assuming you're the same selfish asshole I've known for years, you'd try to overthrow her somehow, probably in a deceitful way."

Tord grinned and rolled back over to his desk. He disconnected my device from the computer, inspected it for a moment, then looked over to me. My stomach turned; he had _that look_.

"I wouldn't have told you all of that if I didn't need you." He walked back over to me, device in hand, looking down on me with a sinister expression. I instinctively stood up. My body was moving quicker than my mind was, and before I could decide if I was going to run away or stay where I was he had hold of my arm and I was frozen in place.

"I've been waiting for someone like you for a while now. You know, someone who could actually help me. And you, you've been helping me all day, surely you won't protest if we follow my plan now instead of whatever you had in mind. I was beginning to think giving out defective equipment was a bad idea."

The device sent a piercing sensation all throughout my body when it was put back on. That feeling brought me back to my senses and everything clicked. All that while I thought he was testing me, but he had been placing a trap that entire time and I fell into it. He had such a detailed sob story, and just like the previous people I had met, I thought that he was venting to me. I knew not to trust Tord, but I guess my mind didn't apply that to everyone else.

"Everything I said is true, you know." He let me go and I immediately swung my fist at him. Looking as if he expected it, he ducked and narrowly avoided any impact. There was no point in trying again; it wasn't going to help me in my situation. The device was off, and I had no idea where I was outside of the room I was in. So I just stood there, glaring, as I let the man chat away.

"You're absolutely right, I am going to overthrow her. Don't take it personally that I'm using you. I just need a hostage."

"Hostage?!"

"It's not what you're thinking. I don't have anything against you, I just need to have something at stake. If I do anything to you it's for a good reason."

Yeah sure, a good, selfish cause. He was talking as if I still believed him. "And you expect me to just stay here and take it? I'll find my way out of this."

He pulled a gun from his pocket and my hands shot up before it was even aimed at me. _Of course_ he was carrying a gun. Did he expect me to trust him after this?

"If you follow me everything will go along fine. If it's any consolation you're still on work hours so all of this is paid for."

I wanted to bust out and deny him, but he had me trapped and cornered. It wasn't that I couldn't put up a fight, it was just that he was anticipating anything that I did. Our psychological debate earlier was proof that he knew my mindset as well as I knew his. I had no choice but to give in.

"Fine, I'll be your hostage on the condition that you have to tell me your plan."


	6. Hostage

TTD 6 - Hostage  
After explaining his plan to me, Tord left me alone in the room where I arrived. As far as hostages went he was actually pretty lenient, allowing me to range the room with no restraints. However, I was still being heavily monitored by him through the device that he slapped back onto my wrist and tightened to an uncomfortable level so that I could not remove it. Not like I was able to beforehand; the thing was designed to cling to the wearer's arm to prevent thievery or loss. It was just another cruel action of his. Despite the threat of death over my head I was surprisingly relaxed. I didn't have to _do_ anything until he got back.

Relaxing as it was to have some quiet time, it also gave me time to reflect on the situation. I was being held hostage by a man similar to the man I hated the most. All I was was a tool for him to reach his own personal goal, and if that didn't happen then I would die. The woman he was trying to overpower -- whose name he still refused to foreclose -- was apparently very sensitive about death. From what I had experienced, though, I found it unlikely. Although Tord claimed to had explained everything to me, I was still in the dark about so much.

It didn't take long before I got bored of just sitting and thinking to myself. I stood up and walked around the room, making observations that I never had a chance to make while interacting with Tord. The room was bigger than I thought, but the rows of equipment along the walls cushioned it. I read the labels on each of these as I went along: "Defective", "Obsolete", and "Not to her liking" were ones that stood out to me. Whose liking? The woman in charge? If so, why would Tord care about how she felt about it?

What caught my eye the most was the large, bulky computer on a desk in the center of the room. I stole Tord's swivel chair and took a seat in front of the screen to see if I could get any information from it. No luck; it was just a bunch of coding. I typed in a bunch of nonsense to see if it would provide me with something, but all it did was make the device connected to the computer beep. I inspected that instead to see if there was any help there, but all it provided was four codes. Curious, I typed in the first code to the computer to see if it gave me any results.

**[First time.**

**It's Tord. Weak, pathetic, injured. Abused? Calls me sir for some reason.]**

Those were the all of the observations I made while travelling. I typed in the next code, and it gave me the same thing. Anything of relevance was recorded, including images that stood out to me. That was how they gathered information, I supposed. But if I gathered that from the device hooked up to the computer then that meant it was that device that I used, not the one currently equipped. Comparing it to the object on my wrist, there were a few subtle differences -- screen color, font, things that wouldn't be noticed unless it was actually used.

That bastard tricked me! If I wasn't wearing what was most likely my only way home, then what was I wearing?!

"Um..."

I hadn't noticed someone enter until they were right next to me. He was a man about my height with his face shielded under a dark cloak. My attention shifted to his wrist, which was sporting a device identical to my own. His hand, red and clammy, reached out to me.

"Tord asked me to escort you." His voice sounded familiar to me, but it was too raspy to place. It was definitely someone I knew. I took his hand hesitantly, not quite sure what was going to happen, but if the order came from Tord then I had no other choice. He led me down a long hallway at an excruciatingly slow pace. I was in a rush to see where I was going, but once I saw what was inside the massive room I wished I could turn back.

There were dozens of people, all identical to my escort, standing with their backs to the wall at regular intervals. If it weren't for their heavy breathing I would have thought they were robots. I followed my escort as he returned to his own spot until I was halted in the center of the room with a gun to my head.

"Tord, what are you doing?! This isn't how your plan went!"

"Look around you, Tom."

I did as he said; I wasn't in a position to say no. I should have anyway. I couldn't stand the looks -- repetitive stares from the same empty eye sockets. Pale, non-moving bodies that I would assume dead if not for the one that led me here. It was a mixture of a factory and a morgue, all starring me. It was jarring, yet I couldn't look away from the horrid scene, and had trouble getting any words across.

"I... I thought you-- you said our meeting was a coincidence!"

"I lied. I'm a liar and you know it." Tord wrapped his free arm around my chest, constricting me like prey.

"We've been paired since the beginning. I didn't realize it until I saw different versions of you pop into my workshop twice as often as any other traveler." He let go of me, leaving me breathless. "If I continuously met someone I knew all of the general weaknesses of, what would I do?"

I didn't want to say it. I was scared. No, I was downright terrified. Was this my fate?

It took a jab to the head for me to respond. "You... would take advantage of it?"

He laughed and slapped me on the back. "Sharp as ever. That's why you're the hostage. Just follow along and I'll get you back to your own dimension in no time flat."

"How do I know you're not lying?" It took a bit, but I was slowly getting past the shock and growing stronger. "You just said yourself that you lie all the time!"

"That's right, you don't know if I'm lying. But would you rather take my word and stay safe or act on the slim chance that I'm being dishonest?"

I took a deep breath and faced the gun's barrel. I was a hostage; I was too vital to be shot. "...Tord. Why do you have so many Toms set up? Why not, I don't know, robots?"

"I don't work with artificial intelligence. Too difficult to program and easily corruptible."

Oh yeah? Another you--

"Another me would beg to differ, yes, I know. But he has two vital things that I don't: time and patience. Plus, it's best to use your resources, correct? It'd just be wasteful to let everyone be." He smiled and shook his head.

How can someone possibly be this--

"Evil? Cruel? Despicable? Are these the words you are thinking of?" I glared at him, but the gun was the only one who noticed. Tord had his eyes closed and was busy participating in his own self-indulgent laughter to notice. "I'm right, aren't I? Your thoughts are too predictable, Tom."

"Tord?"

The two of us looked to the doorway where a third person stood. She was tall, taller than either than us, and had an elegant aura to her, with her long, skinny dress and hair pulled up into a bun. This must have been the woman Tord mentioned. As she walked in Tord's demeanor changed in a flash, fumbling with the gun and examining the room. He whispered things like "switch" and "wrong timing", but I couldn't comprehend anything more. Her reaction to the scene was similar to my own -- appalled and disgusted, and she looked at Tord with a mix of disappointment and exasperation.

"Tord, did you do this?" She sounded fragile and quiet, but looked anything but. Tord, defeated, got down on one knee in front of her.

"I didn't want you to see this... not in this state. I was going to turn it into a gift. A whole army of servants at your disposal." He wasn't cocky. The complete opposite, actually. There was a spark in his eyes as he watched her, contrasting her dark, slit eyes expressing her distaste.

"T-Tord, I can't believe it. Are they...?"

"Brainwashed, yes. They'll obey any order you give them." Tord stood up and took her hand, which she pulled back the moment they touched as if it were a hot flame. "I know we're short on staff, so I hope this will please you."

_"Not to her liking"._

The note popped into my head and everything clicked. This was the woman Tord mentioned to me in his explanation. He spoke ill of her during our initial conversation, but I would never imagine that with his behavior. I couldn't quite place it, but whatever it was it surely wasn't reciprocated.

"Please me? This... this is a new low, even for you. Are they... even living?" She turned her eyes away.

"My dear queen, would I ever hand you a dead man?"

"Yes." Tord bit his lip as if he were damaged by her response. "It wouldn't be the first time."

"I was doing it for you!"

Wait. Wasn't he after a promotion? As far as I could tell this was about something else.

"Tord." The woman, Tord's "Queen", stared at the ground and spoke in a whisper, but her words had a massive impact. "This is the last straw."

That was it. The moment he lost control of himself. His snapping point. I stepped back further than I already was until my back hit the bare wall.

"No...! I refuse it!" He was screaming at the top of his lungs. Tears formed in his eyes. "I've worked so hard, all for you! You are _going_ to let me rule with you!"

She was abnormally calm through it all. She didn't even bother to look at him. "You've crossed the line too many times. I only kept you around for your skills, but it seems I made the wrong decision."

"Yes! Yes, you made the wrong decision when you demoted me!"

"You are correct. I should have _fired_ you as soon as you killed _him_."

_Him?_

" _He_ had it coming! He got in the way of me and you!"

"He looked after you. I'm not sure if you're _aware_ of this, but you're not _mentally stable_."

The next thing I knew I had a gun to my head again. It was wobbly but it would no doubt kill me if he shot. The hand that held me in place was sweaty and tighter than the device on my wrist. "S-Stop getting off-topic! I only want one thing: control! Let me be your king!"

The Queen looked up, but her eyes set on me rather than the lunatic to the side. "Tord, let the man be."

"N... Not until you give me what I want!"

I was going to die, wasn't I? Neither one of them showed any signs of giving in. The Queen, or whatever her name was, kept her gaze on me, but I couldn't read her expression. Neither one of them said anything. I, too, was speechless. With no one wavering, there was only one action left.

I was on the ground, blood pouring from my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned for this to be the last chapter, and I planned on releasing it a lot earlier (my original deadline was Christmas). It would have been a really long chapter if I had not stopped here, however, and it's the perfect place to break. Let's hope I finish a lot sooner this time!


End file.
